Dairy or dairy not?

As you can probably tell from the play on words title this post is briefly about cow products.



This is not dairy. But I wanted to include a tasty meal. I cooked this. It was extremely tasty.

Dairy or dairy not?

Catherine and I have been green (veggie to those that didn't read the previous blog) for three weeks. I've not had a single urge for a bacon sandwich or other meat meal. Instead I find that I have forgotten meat and misplaced the memories of meals involving animals. In its place I have discovered other ways to fulfill my protein and vitamin needs, by cooking delicious new meals involving a variety of veg and legumes.

I am amazed at how easy I have found it to relinquish meat and take to a veg diet. When we first started I said that I wasn't going to eat dairy and my intention was to just eat vegetables, legumes and grains. However I soon realised this would mean the curtailing of regular cups of tea, cafe coffees, pretty much any bakery product and worst of all, ice cream. I clearly hadn't thought this through. Needless to say I came to my senses quick enough (once told by Catherine what I couldn't have) and decided to keep dairy.

With this in mind I considered some dairy to be a useful dietary addition and other dairy to be superfluous to my healthy approach. I looked upon what I could realistically reduce and what made a big difference to my diet. After a rigorous process I discovered the following:

I love dairy.

This revelation (which I hadn't seen coming) was apparent in my consumption of tea, cappuccinos, cheese, bakery products, buttery toast and ice creams. I certainly don't eat a lot of the latter, but I enjoy my tea and coffees.

Tom's conclusion
As a result of my experiment I came upon this conclusion.

In terms of nutrition I don't believe that milk, cheese or any other form of dairy provides anything spectacular to the human body. Yes it provides calcium, but it's widely disputed whether the body can readily absorb it from dairy. As a protein source it's not amazing either and many other grain forms can provide it without the saturated fat. Aside from that many people struggle to digest dairy properly as they lose the digestive enzyme required after teething as children. I can get all of my protein needs from a variety of pulses, legumes and grains. I shouldn't need to supplement to achieve this. From vegetables, pulses and grains I can get all the nutrients I need to train effectively and recover appropriately. I don't need a multivitamin (or meat) to achieve that either.

I think above all else it simply comes down to a want versus need argument again. I don't need dairy to survive. It is not necessary to my health, however it comes down to living a balanced lifestyle. There is no question in my mind that milk makes a great cup of tea, cheese makes any boring meal tasty and ice cream is delicious on a hot day.

If I can lead a balanced lifestyle whereby I eat a healthy vegetarian diet, train hard AND enjoy a little of the "naughty" stuff, then I'll be happy. Becoming vegetarian was easy, but soya milk and a Vegemite rice cracker (minus the butter) are not the same as an English brew with milk and toast, butter and marmite!

So for now I will continue my healthy balance and rejoice in my next ice cream, without attacking the cheese, pastries and cream every night!

Tom :)





- Posted using a modern day type writer